The head of China’s top court, Zhou Qiang, met with senior law officials attending a forum of China and Portuguese-speaking countries on March 25 in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province.

Zhou, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), welcomed his counterparts and other senior law officials from Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola, Brazil, and Equatorial Guinea.

Zhou said that China and Portuguese-speaking countries keep close economic, trade and talent ties, and that exchanges and cooperation in the judicial sector is proceeding smoothly.

He said the forum of presidents of the top courts in Portuguese-speaking countries will serve as a new platform and will open a new chapter in exchanges and communication in the legal field.

At the forum, Zhou briefed his guests about rule of law in China and judicial reform.

Judicial cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries has become closer than ever before since the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Zhou.

The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

The SPC is willing to conduct more practical cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries in case studies, judge training, court information construction, protection of intellectual property, and the fight against transnational crimes, he added.

Senior law officials from Portuguese-speaking countries attending the forum also outlined the achievements in the law sector in their own countries.

They expressed the willingness to have closer ties and deepened judicial cooperation with the SPC.

At the forum, Zhou signed a memorandum of understanding on judicial cooperation and exchanges with his counterparts from Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe.

Zhou held talks with Sam Hou Fai, president the Court of Final Appeals in the Macao Special Administrative Region, after the forum.